ABB Review Article

Bremen´s 100-MW static frequency link

Issue-No: 9,10/96 (pp.4-17), M420
Author(s): Osvin Gaupp, ABB Industrie AG, Plinio Zanini, ABB Power Generation Ltd, Peter
Daehler, ABB Industrie AG, Eugen Baerlocher, ABB Industrie AG, Ruediger Boeck, Stadtwerke
Bremen AG, Johannes Werninger, ABB Industrie AG

Static frequency converters are today the equipment of choice for the links that exchange
energy between railway power supplies and national electricity grids. At 100 MW, the
'Bremen' static frequency link in Germany is currently the world´s highest rated installation
of its kind to employ GTO thyristor technology. Further development of the GTO thyristors,
which are connected in series, plus a new type of gate unit, made the high rating and good
economy of the link - between a 16 2/3-Hz and a 50 Hz system - possible. The advantages of
the new installation over earlier links include high availability and a considerably better
efficiency over the full power range.

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For historical reasons, traction power supplies in many countries have frequencies which are
different to the frequency of the national grid or, alternatively, are operated with direct current [1, 2,
3]. Although the railways have their own power plants, the strong fluctuation in power demand
often makes it necessary for the supply systems to also be connected to the national grid. In
Germany, for example, ties exist between the traction power supply and the national grid at about
40 locations. Besides meeting about a quarter of the railways' total power demand, these ties also
allow the traction power supplies to be stabilized. Also, since most of them can be used to
exchange energy in both directions (ie, from the 50-Hz to the 16 2/3-Hz system, and vice versa),
traction power generation can be scheduled in a more economical way.

Operation of the frequency link and environmental protection

Blast-furnace gas - a byproduct of pig iron production at the German steel company Stahlwerke
Bremen GmbH - is supplied by pipelines with a diameter of up to 1.8 m to the Mittelsbüren power
plant, which is located near the steelworks. The electric utility Stadtwerke Bremen AG, which owns
the power plant, burns the gas in turbines to generate electrical power for German Railway. This
collaboration, which began in 1964, is of considerable ecological importance as it saves coal which
would otherwise have to be burnt in other power plants to meet demand. CO2 emissions are
substantially reduced as a result.
The drop in traction power demand at weekends made it necessary in the past to burn off a certain
amount of the blast-furnace gas. Since the static 100-MW frequency link has been operating in
Mittelsbüren, the blast-furnace gas can be utilized more efficiently as Stadtwerke Bremen can
convert the traction power into three-phase AC power, and vice versa. In the future, it will be
possible to use almost all of the gas to generate electrical power. Also, any power which German
Railway does not want can be converted and fed into the power system of Stadtwerke Bremen.
Hitherto, the environmental benefit accruing from the cooperation between the steelworks, railway
authorities and electric utility has been equivalent to about 750,000 t of CO2 per year, this being
the amount that other power plants would otherwise have emitted. With the new converter, an
additional reduction of 150,000 t of CO2 will be achieved each year.
The static frequency link for exchanging energy between the 16 2/3-Hz system and the 50-Hz
system also helps to secure a more reliable supply of power in the two networks, since a power
shortfall in one of the systems can be compensated for by the other.
With the help of the new system tie, the traction power units of the Mittelsbüren plant can be
included in the three-phase AC power generation (or power from the 50-Hz system supplied to the
16 2/3-Hz system in an economical way) when less or even no blast-furnace gas is available, or
when the full power plant rating is not at disposal for other reasons. This not only ensures good
matching of the power plant capacity to the actual supply, fuel and cost situation, but also makes
sure that the contractual obligations to German Railway are met independently of the supply of
blast-furnace gas.

From rotary to static converters

Traditionally, converter stations linking traction power supplies with national grids have had rotary
converters installed in them. In recent decades, the increasing reliability of power semiconductor
devices, and particularly the successful introduction of gate turn-off (GTO) thyristors, has
made static converter installations the preferred option. The benefits they offer are as follows:
• An improvement in efficiency of about 5 percent over the entire power range [2]

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 • Lower first-time costs due to the elimination of the costly foundations for rotating
installations
• Longer intervals between maintenance, plus shorter downtimes, resulting in higher
availability
• Modular design of the components, making the equipment easier to service

Static traction power links built in the past have featured converter units with a rating no higher
than about 15 MVA. ABB recently took a first step towards higher ratings with the 2 x 25-MVA
installation for Swiss Federal Railway's converter station at Giubiasco, in southern Switzerland.
This installation was placed in commercial operation in 1994 [1, 3].

A single converter with high rating for Bremen

In 1991, Stadtwerke Bremen AG awarded ABB Power Generation and ABB Industrie AG a
contract to study the feasibility of building a high-power converter for exchanging electrical energy
between a 16 2/3-Hz and 50-Hz system; the converter was to be built with GTO thyristors in series
connection and have a transmission rating of up to 100 MW in both directions. The feasibility study
showed that further development of the GTO thyristors, their series connection and use of an
innovative hard driven gate unit [4], would allow an economical static frequency link to be built that
satisfies these conditions.
The main technical data of the Bremen frequency link are given in Table 1. The installation
consists of a single converter rated
at 100 MW/MVA. This tremendous
leap in power rating was made
possible by several innovations in
GTO thyristor technology that
guarantee highest reliability.
A single converter unit which is
capable of the full power rating
offers higher efficiency than
converters made up of multiple
units. In addition, the smaller
number of components
automatically improves the
reliability, while investment and
running costs are also lower. It is
worth noting, too, that in Bremen all
of the necessary redundancy is
integrated in the converter itself.

Frequency link circuit and configuration

The main power circuit of the Bremen frequency link consists primarily of the thyristor converter on
the three-phase AC side, the DC voltage link, the GTO converter on the 16 2/3-Hz side, and the
converter transformers. Also shown in Image 1 is the filter and compensation equipment for the
three-phase AC network and the DC link, plus the main overvoltage protection gear and the
equipment for protecting the station in the event of 'shoot-through'. The voltage and frequency of

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the power system operated by Stadtwerke Bremen AG remain practically constant. In the traction
power supply, on the other hand, both the voltage (97-123 kV) and the frequency (16.3-17.0 Hz)
fluctuate considerably in normal operation. The nominal voltage and nominal current of the DC link
are 10 kV and 10.5 kA, respectively.

2
The new installation is located directly behind the 110-kV substation of Stadtwerke Bremen AG
and immediately next to German Railway's 110-kV substation. The converter and the control and

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monitoring equipment are accommodated in a two-floor building. All the capacitor banks are also
located in this building to protect them from pollution caused by the steelworks and from salinity in
the air, a consequence of the installation's site, which is close to Germany's North Sea coastline.
The transformers, compensating coils, smoothing reactors and filter coils are installed in front of
the building.

3
The layout of the rooms in the 54 m by 15 m large building is practically the same on the ground
and upper floors, since the main components (both converter units, the DC link capacitors and the
common turn-off circuits) are evenly divided between the two floors and arranged identically. The
chosen configuration ensures that the connecting buses are kept as short as possible.
Transparency and good access to the station components was given a high priority during the
planning. In this respect, the installation benefits in full from the inherent advantages of the
converter's modular design: ease of maintenance, low service costs, short repair times in the event
of equipment failure, all of which add up to high availability. The room in which the converter on the
16 2/3-Hz side is installed has been dimensioned to ensure good access to all the components.
Half of the converter modules and the voltage-limiting modules are on each floor of the building.
The control system cubicles are situated on the top floor, in a central position to ensure short
cables to the power components. Also on the top floor is the MMI station for local control.
The transformers as well as the compensation, filter and smoothing reactors are all located outside
of the building, but close to their associated power components.

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Principle of operation and equipment layout on the 16 2/3-Hz
side
The direct voltage of the DC link is kept constant by the converter on the three-phase AC side. The
GTO thyristor converter generates an internal voltage with freely adjustable amplitude and phase
and a frequency which is determined by the interconnected operation. The reference quantities for
the manipulated variables of the converter are the voltage and phase relation at the tie to the
traction power supply.

4a,b
The vector diagram in (Image 4b) illustrates the principle of operation of the converter with GTO
thyristors. A key role is played by the short-circuit reactance XT of the single-phase converter
transformer (Image 4a). The internal converter voltage UBi can be freely chosen within certain
limits (grey area). This defines the voltage drop DUT and with it the amplitude and phase of the
current IB.
The availability of reactive power is limited by the maximum internal voltage that can be set. This is
defined by the direct voltage of the DC link and the converter control procedure described in the
following. In connection with this, it should be noted that the restrictions on the switching time do
not allow the full control voltage ust to be utilized (the maximum control voltage factor is 0.96).

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The apparent power SB is limited by the maximum current IB that can be conducted by the GTO
converter and the converter transformer (small circle in Image 4b). Whereas in the case of the
transformer this limit
has only thermal
origins, in the case of
the converter
consideration also
has to be given to the
turn-off capability. In
addition, the active
power limits (the
perpendicular
borders of the grey
area) depend on the
design of the infeed
circuit (thyristor
converter, etc) on the
three-phase AC side.
The PQ diagram representing the 16 2/3-Hz side corresponds to the defined power data (Table 2).
The circle for UB = 121kV
includes the three specified
operating points A, B and C,
and corresponds to the
maximum current allowed for
the GTO thyristor converter.
This also determines the
maximum power at a lower
railway network voltage. In the
overexcited range, the power
limit is defined at point B by the
maximum possible converter
voltage.
Since an additional antiparallel
thyristor converter with the
same power rating is installed,
the symmetrical operating
points A', B', C' are valid for the
energy flow from the 16 2/3-Hz
side to the 50-Hz side.

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Control method and output voltage
The proven PWM (pulse width modulation)
method was chosen for the control, this
method being used widely today for drive
systems. The switching commands for the
individual phase modules (U-modules) are
generated on the basis of a comparison of the
instantaneous values of the sinusoidal control
voltage ust with the triangular carrier voltages
(auxiliary control voltages uhm and uhp). The
carrier frequency corresponds to three times
the traction power system frequency. Each
GTO thyristor therefore performs three
switching cycles for every period on the 16
6 2/3-Hz side.
All twelve GTO thyristor bridges are controlled
using the PWM method; the carrier signals of two adjacent stages are displaced electrically by 15 °
(180 °/12, referred to the carrier period). Because of this there are 12 mutually displaced step
voltages. The summation of these step voltages, which takes place due to the series connection of
the high-voltage windings in the 16 2/3-Hz transformer, results in an approximately sinusoidal
output voltage with a very low harmonic content. No additional filters are necessary.

7
The output voltage is controlled by means of adjustment of the amplitude of the control voltage ust
and its phase relation d, referred to the traction system voltage UB at the point where the frequency
link is connected.

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Converter on the 16 2/3-Hz side
The high power rating of Bremen's frequency link was made possible in the first place by key
technological advances that are incorporated in the GTO thyristors used in the converter on the 16
2/3-Hz side. This converter consists of (Image 1):
• Twelve H-bridges, each with two phase modules, connected in parallel with the DC voltage
link
• Four voltage limiters in the DC voltage link
• The DC voltage link, coupled direct and consisting of a low-inductance busbar and
capacitors
• The valve base electronics
Low-inductance phase modules
Each of the phase modules has six GTO thyristors connected in series. The phase module with the
DC link bus and the directly connected capacitors is designed with a very low inductance to ensure
that only minimal energy is stored in the leakage inductance, thereby minimizing the voltage stress
during switching.
Very low-inductance HV capacitors (200 nH per 10-
kV unit) are used for the DC voltage link. The
capacitor elements are built using self-healing, dry
technology. In the event of an internal defect in the
insulation, evaporation of the metal layer is
restricted to the immediate locality, and no short-
circuit occurs.
The power semiconductors, resistors in the snubber
circuits and current-limiting reactors are cooled with
deionized water. The reliability of the converter is
also increased by this (no fans for forced-air
cooling).
Series connection and redundancy
The series connection of the GTO thyristors calls for
precise timing of the switching, with all of the series-
connected GTO thyristors capable of being switched
within 200 ns. To this end, ABB developed the so-
called hard driven gate unit, which features a much
higher rate of rise and amplitude than conventional
gate drives [4]. To achieve this, the inductance of
the gate unit had to be reduced by a factor of about
100, requiring a completely new design in which the
GTO thyristor and gate unit are united in a single,
compact module.
The nominal direct voltage of the DC link is 10 kV.
Four GTO thyristors connected in series in each
branch of the bridge are sufficient for this rating.
8
With six GTO thyristors connected in series, one
semiconductor device could fail without causing the installation to perform at less than its full level.

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If a second thyristor in the same branch should fail, controlled shut-down of the installation is
initiated. The incorporation of redundant semiconductor devices reduces the voltage stress level of
all of the components and significantly improves their mean lifetime.
Calculations based on field data show that a converter with GTO thyristors connected in series and
with integrated redundancy will, on average, suffer a total breakdown just once in seven years.
This figure presupposes annual maintenance, during which any defective redundant components
identified during operation are replaced. The availability can be significantly improved by replacing
these components at shorter intervals.
DC link bus connections
The low-inductance design principle also applies to those parts of the DC link that are closely tied
electrically to the converter. The voltage link conductors therefore consist of two flat bars running
parallel to each other with just a layer of MICADUR® insulation separating them. Since internal
short-circuits could cause considerable mechanical stress, the structure has been designed to
withstand every conceivable fault event. After being calculated and simulated, the stress withstand
capability was also tested in ABB's high power laboratory.
Voltage limiter
Fast-acting control circuits ensure that
the DC voltage is kept constant by the
infeed thyristor converter. Nevertheless,
disturbances in either of the two power
systems can cause transient over
voltages. To protect the converter, a
voltage limiter has been integrated which
connects a load resistor into the DC link
the moment the permitted voltage limit is
reached. The voltage limiter consists of
four parallel GTO thyristor switches with
load resistors. These are, in effect, four
slightly modified branches of the phase
module of the GTO thyristor converter to
which a resistor and freewheeling diodes
have been added.
9

Protection
The three-stage protection concept comprises prevention, protection firing, and damage
containment in emergency situations. The overriding philosophy is that everything has to be done
to prevent fault situations from occurring in the first place. This end is served by redundant GTO
thyristors as well as controlled shut-down in the event of failure of a second thyristor in the same
branch. In addition, the two branches of a GTO thyristor phase are interlocked to prevent them
from becoming conductive simultaneously.
If the preventive measures fail, shoot-through is detected within just a few microseconds by a
measuring device (also provided in redundant mode). To relieve the defective GTO thyristor phase,
all the other phases of the converter are turned on (protection firing). The design of the converter
ensures such that this causes no damage. Besides, the integrated preventive measures ensure
that protection firing occurs on only very rare occasions.

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The GTO thyristor converter has also been designed to withstand faults in the event of failure of
the protection system. Although all of the semiconductor devices (GTO thyristors and diodes) in a
defective phase can be destroyed by the full fault current flowing through a central fault location,
there will be neither mechanical nor thermal secondary damage as a result of this. No plasma is
formed and no components will explode.
Verification
Since the GTO thyristor converter in Bremen is the first of its kind and features largely new
technologies, special importance was attached to the verification of the components and
subassemblies used in it. This was carried out by simulation with highly sophisticated models and
by laboratory testing of the different parts of the installation.
The program used for the simulation was a new one with improved models of the power
semiconductors. The parameters were obtained from special measurements carried out on the
hardware. In this way it was possible, for example, to verify the shoot-through and protection firing
within the context of the overall installation and the power systems. In addition, the influence of the
component tolerances could be clarified and worst-case tests could be carried out.
Besides the type-tests, which were performed in accordance with the standards, several other
tests were carried out. These included:
• Tests to determine what happens in the high-frequency range during transient faults in the
traction power system.
• Impulse current tests to verify that no mechanical damage is caused to the components in
the event of all the protection stages failing.
• Further impulse current tests to verify that the characteristic data of the semiconductor
devices do not change even after as many as 100 instances of protection firing.
• An endurance test lasting longer than 100 h under the following conditions: 150 percent
rated current, 120 percent rated voltage, 150 percent nominal frequency and zero
redundancy [4].

Transformers on the 16 2/3-Hz side

The summation transformer on the traction power side consists of six two-phase units with yoke.
Since the two phases are decoupled
magnetically by the yoke, they act as
individual transformers. The secondary
windings of the two phases receive power
from adjacently modulated GTO thyristor
bridges. Although their fundamental
components are in phase, the harmonics
are phase-shifted due to the displaced
pulse pattern, resulting in a magnetic flux in
the yoke equal to approximately 10 percent
of the main flux in the wound yoke during
steady-state operation. Despite this, the
return limb's cross-section has the same
dimensions as the main limb to allow
10 temporary (eg, during power system faults),
virtually independent switching of the two GTO thyristor bridges without any risk of the transformer
becoming saturated.

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A conventional three-phase AC transformer core made of grain-oriented magnetic sheet steel and
with windings on just the outer yokes was therefore used for the two-phase unit. Each yoke carries
one primary (16 2/3-Hz side) and one secondary winding in a concentric arrangement. All the
primary windings are insulated for the full test voltage. Two two-phase units share a common tank.
Special attention was paid to the open-circuit leakage impedance of the individual phase systems.
The spread of these impedances had to be limited as much as possible as it determines how the
traction power system voltage is divided between the transformers (and therefore among the GTO
thyristor bridges) when the thyristor valves are non-conducting. A very uneven distribution could
lead to the amplitude of the alternating voltage in the bridges with the largest share of the voltage
being higher than the DC link voltage. This would cause overloading of the DC link via the diodes
in the H-bridges.
Another recognized problem involves the DC voltage components that appear in the output voltage
of the thyristor bridges when the timing of the switching is not optimal. Even a relatively small
proportion of these components can lead to signs of transformer saturation or load the bridges with
magnetizing current, and even make operation impossible. The problem grows with the size of the
installation and is further intensified by the series connection of the GTO thyristors. In the Bremen
link, a constant error of just 1 µs per phase would lead to a DC voltage component of 33 mV,
causing a magnetic bias of approximately 1.4 T. By comparison, the operational induction with a
maximum output voltage is 1.55 T. To make sure that any DC voltage component that might occur
is limited, an innovative system was developed which promptly detects such components and
lowers their value to an acceptable level.

Design of the DC link

The main purpose of the DC voltage link is to de-couple the three-phase AC power system from
the traction power supply. It has to ensure that the GTO thyristor converter is supplied with a
constant direct voltage and at the same time prevent harmonics on the 16 2/3-Hz side from
reaching the 50-Hz circuit. Also important, for protection reasons, is the minimization of the
distributed capacitance CD, which is hard-wired to the converter.
One result of the traction power supply being a single-phase system is that power oscillation with
double the traction power frequency occurs. A tuned 33-Hz filter therefore has to be incorporated in
the DC link. The link rating is defined by the ripple in the direct voltage that can be tolerated under
the assumption of maximum frequency deviation in the traction power supply and worst-case filter
detuning.
The traction power converter must also be capable of trouble-free operation in cases of relatively
strong distortion of the traction power supply voltage. The 3rd and 5th harmonics, in particular, can
reach high values. To achieve the necessary insensitivity to these harmonics, a damped highpass
filter is integrated in the DC link in addition to the 33-Hz filter.

50-Hz-side converter and compensation equipment

Power is fed into the system from the Stadtwerke Bremen grid via a line-commutated 12-pulse
thyristor converter, this being more economical than a self-commutated converter.
The high level of grid cabling results in excessive reactive power, which has to be compensated for
during low-load periods by reactors. The reactance coils can also be connected into circuit
whenever the frequency link is not in operation. Filters and reactors are switched mechanically to
obtain the required reactive-power range in the most economical way. The filter design ensures
adherence to the prescribed limits for voltage distortion (< 1.5 percent).

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The thyristor converter configuration for the nominal data of the DC link has four thyristors
connected in series and three branches connected in parallel. Like the GTO thyristor converter,
this installation can continue to operate unrestricted if one thyristor per branch should fail. Failure
of a second thyristor in the same branch results in controlled shut-down of the installation. This
ensures that the healthy part of the branch is not endangered. The current distribution in the
parallel branches is monitored. If one branch does not participate in the current conduction (e.g.,
due to a fault in the gate unit), the DC link current is limited accordingly.
Any surplus energy that is present in the traction power supply is fed into Stadtwerke Bremen's
electricity grid via a second, antiparallel thyristor converter operating as an inverter. The
converter's control system allows fast power reversal.
A high priority was given to the protection of the converter when it is being operated in inverter
mode. This protection is provided by a common turn-off circuit comprising static devices for forced
commutation (Image 1).
Unlike conventional HVDC installations with current-controlled converters on both sides, the circuit
in the Bremen station does not allow control of the fault current in the DC link. Even when the
inverter control is carefully designed, commutation failures (eg, during transients in the three-phase
AC network) can never be entirely excluded.
Inverter commutation failures are detected by two independent measuring circuits, both sides of
the converter being blocked as soon as a failure is identified. A negative reverse current is applied
to the defective inverter valve, which is turned off as a result. Approximately one power system
period is required for the entire turn-off process. After a short time of about 1 s, which is needed to
restore the turn-off function to its original status, transmission starts up again automatically. The
functional availability of the common turn-off circuit is monitored continuously.

Valve base electronics

Every converter is assigned an electronics package which generates the pulse telegrams from the
firing commands given by the controller and transmits them over fiber optic wires to the individual
semiconductor locations, where they are converted by indirect light pulse firing (via the thyristor
electronics) into electrical firing pulses. The valve base electronics also monitors, with the help of
return signals from the thyristor electronics, the redundancy of the series-connected semiconductor
devices, producing an alarm or trip signal whenever the level of redundancy is reduced.
Semiconductor devices which have failed are identified and can be replaced the next time routine
maintenance is carried out.
The overvoltage limiter in the DC link of the GTO thyristor converter is also controlled by the valve
base electronics. The same electronics is further responsible for high-speed detection (in
redundant mode) of shoot-throughs and for tripping the protection firing of the GTO thyristor
converter.
In the case of the thyristor converter, this electronics package also controls the common turn-off
circuit. Return signals enable the controller to quickly identify commutation failures when the
converter is operating in inverter mode.

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Control and monitoring system
The installation is controlled and monitored by a S.P.I.D.E.R. MicroSCADA system run on an
ALPHA workstation. This system, which also records status changes and disturbances, can be
operated from a local control
room, from the nearby
Mittelbüren power plant, or
from Stadtwerke Bremen's
load dispatching center
approximately 20 km away.
The operating authority can
be selected as required. The
installation itself is
unattended.
Control and protection of the
frequency link are based on
ABB's programmable high-
speed control system, PSR2
[5]. PSR2 was developed
especially for complex power
electronics systems, making it
the ideal solution for the
Bremen link. It combines a
high processing speed with an
extremely user-friendly
graphic programming
language (FUPLA 2). The
combination of these two
features ensures a high level
of operational flexibility. Both
the graphic programming
interface of the system and
S.P.I.D.E.R. MicroSCADA can
be accessed over a telephone
line for diagnostics purposes.
The control system is
responsible for sequential
start-up and shut-down of the
installation as well as for
ensuring stable operation.
11

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 The main control task on
the 50-Hz side is to keep
the DC link voltage
constant. To optimize
the dynamic response
and for protection
reasons, a configuration
with cascade controller,
superimposed voltage
regulator and
subordinate DC current
controller was chosen.
Control on this side also
includes the switching of
the thyristor converters
when the power is
reversed. As with HVDC
converter stations, the
triggering equipment is
12
synchronized by means
of a phase-locked loop (PLL).
The current (IB) and voltage (UB) measured on the 16 2/3-Hz traction power side are used to
calculate the active and reactive power. Active power is controlled according to a load-frequency
characteristic, and reactive power on the basis of a voltage/reactive power curve. The pulse-width
modulator is synchronized by means of a phase-locked loop, which is also used to measure the
traction power system frequency.
The protection is designed with two channels for full redundancy. If a system fails as the result of a
hardware fault, its tripping channels are automatically blocked. The installation protection as a
whole is not affected by this. The operating staff are informed of the fault and of the defective
equipment involved via the man-machine interface. Replacement of the hardware,
parameterization and testing of the protection functions can be carried out for every protection
system with the installation still in operation.

Design and verification

The Bremen frequency link was designed and verified with the help of three tools:
• Analytical software
• Simulation software
• ABB simulator (with 50-W scale, for the physical
simulation)
The first two tools offer high accuracy and reproducibility
over a wide frequency range, while the special strength of
the simulator is its real-time capability. This allows the
entire system to be safely tested using real-world control
and monitoring equipment.
For example, it was possible to develop the main functions
13
of the control system on the physical simulator using the

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DC link values of 200 V and 250 mA. Before being delivered, the control system cubicles were tied
into the simulator configuration and tested in collaboration with Stadtwerke Bremen under very
realistic normal and fault conditions.

Commissioning
During commissioning, high priority was given to step-by-step verification of the correct electrical,
thermal and mechanical design of all parts of the installation. After all the standard pre-
commissioning tests had been carried out (voltage tests, tests on the control system and
protection, etc), the subsystems were tested in the following order:
• No-load test, 50-Hz infeed
The filter and compensation equipment, converter transformer, thyristor converter and DC
link had voltage applied to them for the first time. Converter control system components
(eg, the triggering equipment) were tested by means of a high-ohm converter load.
• Short-circuit test, 50-Hz infeed
A continuous test at the maximum direct current of 10.5 kA was carried out to verify the
correct thermal design of all the subsystems, and particularly the 50-Hz cooling plant. Also
tested was the control, including the supervisory control system of the thyristor converter.
• No-load test, GTO thyristor converter
The voltage formed by the GTO thyristor converter voltage was tested initially with a
reduced DC link voltage and with an open circuit-breaker on the 16 2/3-Hz side.
• Protection-related tests
Vital protection functions, such as protection firing of the GTO thyristor converter,
overvoltage limitation in the DC link and operation of the common turn-off circuit in cases of
inverter commutation failure, were tested under real-world conditions.
• Short-circuit testing, GTO thyristor converter
A continuous test was carried out (16 2/3-Hz side short-circuited and a maximum load
current corresponding to 100 MVA) to verify the correct thermal design of the converter, 16
2/3-Hz transformer and cooling plant.
• System tests, 16 2/3-Hz side
These tests included testing and optimization of the control system under real-world
operating conditions. In addition, all the guarantee values (power output, efficiency, mains
pollution, etc) were verified.
The oscillogram in Image 14 shows, as an example, the DC link voltage, DC link current and
voltage, and current at the point of connection of the traction power supply during switching from
normal transmission to phase shift mode. This sequence is switched on automatically whenever
there is a disturbance in the three-phase AC system. The reversal sequence (right-hand side of the
oscillogram) is also automatic, being carried out as soon as the AC network conditions have been
restored to normal.

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 14
Following successful trial operation of the static frequency link, the installation was handed over to
Stadtwerke Bremen for commercial service.

References
[1] O. Gaupp, G. Linhofer, G. Lochner, P. Zanini: Powerful static frequency converters for
transalpine rail routes. ABB Review 5/95, 4-10.
[2] D. Lönard, J. Northe, D. Wensky: Statische Bahnstromrichter - Systemübersicht ausgeführter
Anlagen. Elektrische Bahnen 6/95, 179-190.
[3] P. Mathis: Statischer Umrichter Giubiasco der Schweizerischen Bundesbahnen. Elektrische
Bahnen 6/95, 194-200.
[4] P. Steimer, H. Grüning, J. Werninger, P. Dähler, G. Linhofer, R. Boeck: Series connection of
GTO thyristors for high-power static frequency converters. ABB Review 5/96, 14-20.
[5] P. Steimer, P. Hartmann, C. Perrin, A. Rufer: PSR - the world's fastest programmable controller
with function block language. ABB Review 2/93, 21-28.

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